14 DAY TRIAL // It’s been quite a while that Intel's Centrino 2 technology was unleashed, and we have already seen a number of new notebooks being released by major manufacturers, all based on the aforementioned mobile technology. However, in the world of portable gaming systems, there's always room for improvement, especially when you’re dealing with a product that's both high-end and even affordable.
We are talking about a new notebook from Zepto but, before you get your hopes too high, we must mention that the “affordable” part is somewhat debatable. With a name that will most certainly remind you of those movies with mythological heroes, the Hydra A17 is ready to pack some gaming action with the help of a Centrino 2-enabled P9500 CPU and NVIDIA's GeForce 9800GTX, which can deliver an impressive 1GB of graphics memory. There are several other things that this notebook can bring to gaming users but, before we go on to enumerating them, you will also have to take into account the £2,029 (approximately US$3,627), including VAT, starting price tag.
Now, if you are still wondering what this Hydra can do for you, then we should probably move on to the spec list. First of all, the notebook comes with 4GB of DDR3 1066MHz memory, while storage will be provided in the form of a 500GB SATA HDD. Aside from that, you are looking at a 17-inch notebook, dressed in black, ready to provide you with all the gaming capabilities you would require from a state-of-the-art portable system. There's also a DVD-RW, WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, and a Windows Vista Ultimate OS with free Office trial.
Ultimately, if you aren't happy with the standard £2,029 system, Zepto will also provide you with a notebook configurator, where you get to choose the various parts that will be included in your gaming notebook. That will obviously raise the price point but, at least, you will know for sure that you’ll be the proud owner of the best that the Hydra can deliver. Then again, if £2,029 is above your budget limits, you can choose to go for the £1,420.36 configuration but, if so, you will probably have to forget about some of the latest games altogether.